Rainstorms and Silk
by 22-Ti
Summary: What happens when a livery driver blows a radiator hose on a classic car in the pouring rain? And what does silk have to do with it?


When Aubrey saw the uniformed driver holding a sign with her name at the airport, she paused momentarily to appreciate the sight. Normally she was collected at the JFK by a stiff, older man who certainly wasn't easy on the eyes and was a horrible conversationalist. But this driver seemed quite the opposite. Aubrey raked her eyes up and down the tall brunette's lithe body with her perfectly tailored livery suit which hugged her in all the right places. Even if the woman was dumber than a box of rocks, she sure was easy on the eyes.

Aubrey tugged her bag towards the driver again, lifting a finger to indicate she was the party on the sign. The dark-haired woman moved forward to take Aubrey's roller bag. "Ms. Posen, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Stacie, and I'll be your driver." She held her hand out questioningly towards Aubrey's large laptop case. "May I?" Aubrey released her hold on her computer, hiding the fact she was impressed since most drivers only took the larger bag.

Stacie turned sharply on her heel and began walking towards the car. After opening the rear door for her passenger, Stacie stowed the bags in the trunk before climbing into the driver's side. "The Ritz-Carlton, correct?"

Aubrey confirmed the destination and settled back in her seat for the ride. Without being imposing, Stacie asked about her visit – standard things such as 'is this your first time in the city' and 'do you need restaurant recommendations' – things of that nature. The brunette was polite and did not take her inquiries too far.

Traffic was heavy so the trip took them a bit longer than normal. Aubrey turned to look at the skyscrapers soaring around her, growing tired of the endless honking and stop-start traffic. "So Stacie, tell me about yourself." The driver glanced at her passenger through the rear-view mirror trying to mask the slight shock at being asked for somewhat personal information. "Where are you from? Siblings? You know, that sort of thing."

"I was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in North Carolina. My mother is a nurse, and father is a scientist. Only child. I'm not that interesting." Stacie chuckled. She glanced back again to find Aubrey staring at her. "Well if you don't count the snakes." She grinned at the shocked look on the blonde's face.

About that time, they pulled up to the hotel. Stacie jumped out of the car and ran around to open the passenger side. "Nice meeting you Ms. Posen." She hurried to the trunk to retrieve the luggage for the bell hops which normally was the end of her interaction with her customers. When she turned back around, she was surprised to see her fare still standing there. "May I help you with something else Ms. Posen?"

"Are you available tomorrow?"

Stacie pulled out her phone to check the calendar. "Yes ma'am. My schedule is open."

Aubrey gave a brief smile. "I need to go to Poughkeepsie for a meeting. Are you available to drive? The meeting will likely take all day."

Stacie agreed and confirmed a time for pick up. She could barely hide her grin as she climbed into the vehicle to leave. Likewise, Aubrey was feeling quite smug in that she was no longer dreading the two-hour drive north.

* * *

The next morning, Aubrey chose her clothing carefully. The drive was going to be long, but shock value was important. There was something about her driver which interested her. She selected a black three-piece form fitting suit with three-quarter length sleeves. The mock pockets and handkerchief were a dark grey stripe. She pulled her hair back into a tight bun. When the concierge rang to let her know the car was waiting, she put on her lipstick, a bit darker shade of red than normal and gave a light spritz of perfume. The effort she had put into getting ready paid off when the doorman opened the door, and Stacie's mouth fell open a split second before she was able to catch herself.

However, when Stacie opened the door to their ride, Aubrey was equally as surprised. "Is that a Mustang Cobra Jet…?" She took Aubrey's bag and placed it in the trunk.

"Yes ma'am. 1969, 428 cubic-inch, eight-cylinder engine, of course. We keep a few _special_ cars for _special occasions_, and I convinced the manager he needed to let me bring this one today." She motioned for Aubrey to get in and allowed the doorman to close the door while she went around to the driver's side. Once they made it out of the city, Stacie pulled over. "Top up? Or down?"

The skies were looking rather dark, so the women decided the top would stay up until they were sure rain was not in the forecast. Secretly Aubrey was glad – not only for her hair but also for the conversation they could have without the roaring winds. They talked about Aubrey's upbringing and her father's love for classic cars, Stacie's dreams of finishing college, Aubrey's work, famous people Stacie had driven… all kinds of things.

* * *

About half an hour into the trip, the bottom dropped out of the clouds. "Good thing we kept that top up." Stacie looked over to her passenger who agreed. Traffic had slowed considerably which was annoying at best. After some more random snippets of conversation, Aubrey could tell Stacie was trying to concentrate on the road and let her mind wander. She rode on in silence, watching the vineyards roll past. She was pulled from her thoughts by a huge clank and a thud from the undercarriage of the vehicle.

"Damn it!" Stacie cursed as she hit the debris that the car in front of her kicked up. Due to the heavy traffic, she had been unable to swerve out of the way. She'd done her best to straddle the chunk of tire tread bouncing down the road. Aubrey covered her mouth to hide her smile. She would have never imagined the string of rather colorful words which were issued from her driver as the garbage thumped along under the car. She couldn't believe such things would slip past the lips of such a professional driver.

"Jessica's going to tan my hide if anything happens to her car."

"I assumed this was a company car."

"They may be company cars, but they're Jessica's babies." Stacie chuckled as she told Aubrey of the love the car handler lavished on the machines in her care. Aubrey smile widened as she imagined another person doting on the classic cars, washing and waxing them as well as keeping the engines in tip top shape. Stacie exited the interstate and hit a county road that took them farther north. The storm was starting to wane, and the sky was just peeking through the thinning clouds.

Aubrey was again enjoying the scenery, the wineries scattered amongst the grape orchards. Her peace was interrupted by another string of indecent words from her prim driver. From where she sat, Aubrey could see the little dials on the dashboard telling them that the engine temperature was far too high.

Stacie continued to mutter as she pulled the car over to a wide spot on the side of the road and got out to see what had gone wrong. Aubrey knew a fair bit about cars since her father had encouraged her to fiddle with the engines of the classics he restored when she was a young girl. So, she climbed out so she could help if Stacie needed it.

Stacie lifted the hood and looked down at the V8 steaming in the drizzle. She popped open the overflow bottle and looked in it before pulling a handkerchief from her pocket. Using the cloth to insulate her fingers, she twisted the hot radiator cap open to check the water level inside.

Aubrey could remember her father doing this many times on the old cars he drove, but the steam that came out of the mustang was nowhere near as strong as it should have been. Stacie squatted down and placed her hand on the bumper of the car as she looked underneath. "We must have broken the radiator hose when we hit that junk." She sighed as she stood and looked up and down the road for an answer to their problems. There were no signs of life on the little road. Stacie cursed her luck again and turned to apologize to Aubrey before calling for a tow.

But Aubrey was gone. She found the blonde digging in the glove compartment of the car. "How far do we have to go?"

The question surprised Stacie. "Another twenty, thirty miles or so," she answered, watching the blonde pull the key from the ignition switch and climb back out of the car. Aubrey dropped her suit jacket on the seat and pushed up her shirt sleeves. Opening the trunk, she looked inside and made a disappointed noise before shutting the lid again. Only a spare tire.

Confused by her actions, Stacie followed her around to the front of the car, where they both squatted down to look at the damaged hose. "What are you thinking?" The brunette asked as she watched the wheels in Aubrey's mind turning.

"I'm thinking that I'm going to need a new pair of stockings," she answered, and stood up. To Stacie's surprise, the blonde turned from her and pulled up the hem of her skirt. She freed the top of her silk stocking from the garter holding it in place. Slipping out of her shoes, she pulled the first of the sheer tubes off. Stacie stood up and stared at her. She had no idea how taking off the stockings was going to help their situation but had no qualms of secretly watching the scenery.

When Aubrey had them both in hand, she sat down on the wet ground in front of the car and wiggled underneath. "What are you doing?" Stacie asked, looking down through the engine compartment to see her passenger threading the delicate material around the damaged hose.

"I once watched my dad nurse a pickup truck with a damaged radiator hose fifty miles to town with only two gallons of water and a shop rag," Aubrey explained as she twisted the first stocking into place and tied it as tight as she could. "He wrapped the cloth around the crack, so it held the hose together." She added the second stocking to the first. "I figured we could make it twenty miles if we could just get this tied off."

"With stockings?" Stacie questioned her judgment.

"With silk stockings," she corrected. "Silk is a very strong material, especially when it's wet." Aubrey checked her knots and pulled herself out from under the car.

Forgetting that Aubrey was trying to repair the car enough to make it to their destination, Stacie said the first thing that came to her mind. "You wear silk, thigh-high stockings?" Stacie asked, reaching down to help her passenger from the ground. This was something she hadn't expected from the blonde.

Aubrey blushed a little at his question. "One of the girls I dated in college got me started on them." The red on her cheeks deepened as she thought about the reasons her ex-girlfriend wanted her to wear them. "I found they were more comfortable than other options. And the silk ones are more durable than the nylon ones."

_Girl I dated in college_ was a second thing Stacie hadn't expected. Stacie realized she was still grasping Aubrey's hand from helping her up when the blonde pulled away. Aubrey gathered her shoes to take back to the car. She pulled out her tea and the bottle of water Stacie hadn't touched and brought them around to the front of the car. "That's not going to be enough,"

Stacie shook her head in mirth as Aubrey emptied the bottle of water into the radiator. She took one final swig of her drink before pouring the liquid into the car. She looked around a bit before saying, "I know." Aubrey looked at the sky as the rain began picking back up, "You better get back in before you get soaked." She handed Stacie the key and ushered her back into the car. "There's no reason for both of us to get wet."

Stacie definitely saw the irony in this statement since she'd been pining after her passenger for two days AND had just watched her shimmy out of silk stockings. The driver rummaged in the trunk and found two more water bottles. She wasn't about to let her passenger work in the rain alone.

The pair of women made their way to the ditch where a swelling stream of water was flowing past. They made several trips between the muddy ditch and the car to get enough water to fill the radiator.

Once it was full, Stacie crawled into the car to start the engine to make sure the makeshift patch was holding. Pleased with her work, Aubrey shut the hood. The dirt she had gotten on her back when she first laid down had been washed away while she worked, but there was still some on her legs. Pausing at a puddle, she cleaned the remaining traces of mud from her calves before opening the door. Since she was now soaked to the bone by the cold liquid falling in sheets from the sky, she stopped long enough to arrange her suit jacket on the seat to protect the upholstery before sitting down gingerly.

Looking over at her drenched passenger, Stacie muttered, "Jessica is going to be so mad! At least you had sense to protect the seats." She studied the woman who had just fixed the car with nothing more than silk stockings. Aubrey was huddled on the very edge of the seat with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, trying, unsuccessfully, not to drip on anything. Her hair had come loose and hung in rivulets about her shoulders, over her white shirt. The sheer material clung to her skin, and Stacie could see the black lace bra, silk no doubt, that she wore underneath without even trying. She turned the heater up as far as it would go. Aubrey tucked her bare feet under the dash, where the warm air could blow down on them.

"You could've worn your shoes," Stacie sighed. It had killed her to watch the blonde climb in and out of that ditch barefoot.

Aubrey shook her head as she shivered. "High heels and mud don't mix."

* * *

Once Aubrey was sufficiently warm, she began to laugh quietly. Soon those laughs turned to chuckles then guffaws. Stacie looked over, staring at the woman who had certainly lost her mind. "Care to let me in on the joke?"

"My meeting today. It's with Vassar College's Women's Studies steering committee about possibly coming for some guest speaker engagements. I suppose sharing this experience would be a good ice-breaker. Strong women overcoming obstacles and all."

"Ms. Posen, I am so sorry this happened. Do you think they will reschedule?" She laughed as well. "You don't exactly look like a guest speaker for Vassar College."

Aubrey reached over and patted her on the leg. "It's okay Stacie. I brought a change of clothes. They are in the bag you put in the trunk. And after I share our adventure, I doubt they will be judging me on my appearance."

* * *

Despite the morning's mishap, the pair made it to Poughkeepsie with time to spare. They found a quaint restaurant for lunch. After ordering, they took turns changing clothes in the restroom. Luckily Stacie always kept a spare change of clothes as well. When Aubrey came back to the table, Stacie excused herself to call Jessica to find out how to best handle the situation with the Mustang.

When she returned, Stacie slumped down in her chair. Apparently, Jessica spent most of the phone call yelling at the top of her lungs. "The call was not pretty." Jessica was going to do some research to see if anyone in town had a radiator hose that would fit the car so that it could be repaired that day. Otherwise their choices were to spend the night until the part could be delivered or have the car towed back to the city.

After lunch, Stacie dropped Aubrey off for her appointment at Vassar then headed to a repair shop. Jessica had texted her that this guy might have a hose that would fit well enough for her to get Aubrey back to the city. Luckily, he did which meant Stacie was going to be able to avoid a lot of wrath from the company's car wrangler for keeping her baby out overnight.

* * *

Aubrey was pleasantly surprised to find her driver and Mustang Cobra Jet waiting for her after her meeting. Before they headed back south, Aubrey dug in the glove box and retrieved the scarf she had seen earlier and affixed it around her hair. Stacie grinned as she lowered the car's roof and headed to the city.

Without the rain and the misfortune, the drive back was much quicker. Stacie pulled up to the Ritz and opened the trunk to retrieve her passenger's bag, allowing the doorman to open Aubrey's door. She handed the blonde her satchel. Aubrey grinned and thanked the driver for a most interesting day before she turned to go into the hotel.

"Ms. Posen," Stacie called after her. She held out a blackened, still dripping mess of hose. "Your hose?"

Aubrey raised her eyebrows and smiled sweetly before replying. "You can keep them."

* * *

**A/N: A book I was reading on the plane inspired this short one-shot.**


End file.
